Dead Men Tell No Tales
by ImmortalDawn18
Summary: Emily's an adorable neko whose scared of her own shadow. Mia's a spellcaster with a dark past and a talking black cat named Neo as a familiar. This will not end well... EdxOC, EnvyxOC.  Co-written w/ Ace5980 *Emily belongs to Ace but Mia's mine*  AU-ish.
1. Prologue

Dawn: Never again.

Ace: Agreed.

Envy: What is it this time?

Ed: I don't even want to know.

Dawn: We went on...

Ace: ... a massive field trip...

Dawn: ... and then proceeded to...

Ace: ... drown in projects.

Dawn: So many.

Ace: I know.

Envy: I laugh at your failures.

Ed: Ace5980 and ImmortalDawn18 do not own FullMetal Alchemist.

Dawn: Good boy, Eddo-kun.

Ace: Now I know why I'm working on you and abandoning Envy to Dawn.

Dawn: *begins playing with Envy's hair*

Envy: *flustered and confused* Let's just get on with this story, shall we?

* * *

Prologue

Every time a breath squirmed its way down Emily's harsh throat, the small demoness made a little whining sound of pain. Every time her chest moved in response to the lethargic beat of her slender heart, the brunette neko tightened her body in an attempt to recoil against the pain. Her lithe tail twitched once in a short little movement, but she had nothing to show for her suffering save the smooth white lines drawn across her wrists. Finally, she could stand it no longer and let out her breath in one long whoosh, her ears lying flat across her head.

Something moved then, something that frightened her. Her tail slipped between her legs in fear as she backed up, the fear shining in her green eyes, and her ears were all but invisible beneath her long unkempt brown hair. She knew she had no reason to be afraid, her mistress's glamours had proven more than effective in the past, but the humans wandering about the lab, glancing into the otherwise empty old metal cages, never failed to frighten her. Her mistress had never failed to specify exactly what would happen should the young neko be discovered by anyone, let alone by a State Alchemist.

A pair of golden eyes keenly glanced into her cage, somehow seeming far more intelligent than they should be for a mortal. Before she could even comprehend her actions, her tail had twitched, testing the very limits of her mistress's glamours. The boy who owned the golden eyes looked suspiciously at the shadows, trying to pick up whatever he seemed to have missed before, meaning her chance was now or never. Hesitantly, the little neko's ears perked up, lowering her head down to his level and breaking the spell. "OH GODS, MUSTANG, THERE'S A CREATURE IN HERE!"

Her ears sunk low, frightened once more as her view of the gold was removed and replaced with eyes black as obsidian. "Quiet, Fullmetal. You're only scaring her." The cage door opened, and a hand slowly ventured in, covered in a glove of ignition cloth. Hissing, Emily pressed herself even deeper into the cage, slashing out at the venturing offense.

"Who's scaring who now?" the first boy teased, elbowing past the other man and lowering himself back down to her level. Instead of pushing his company on her, he merely offered his hand out to her, prompting her to slowly lean forward and delicately sniff at the hand before accepting the gentle caress to her ears. "Seriously, considering the fact you're a ladies-man, Colonel, you're surprisingly clueless as to how to put them at ease."

"She isn't all human, Fullmetal," he pouted, causing her to almost shrink under the hand.

"Shh, you're safe now," he soothed. "I'm Edward, and this is Roy."

"Em-eh-lee," she ventured childishly, as though she hadn't spoke before.

"So you're name is Emily?" Edward asked, wanting to confirm it.

She nodded. "Uh-huh. Where Me?"

Both males frowned. "Me?" Roy ventured in a flat tone.

"Em-eh-lee's miss-tress. She me-en. Hu-urt Em-eh-lee."

It took Edward a moment to decipher her broken speech, but once he did, his face clouded as he pried open the shackle binding her slender ankle to the floor. "Don't worry, Emily," he growled. "She won't hurt you anymore."

"Ed-werd pwo-miss?"

"I promise. Do you think you can stand up?"

Not wanting to disappoint her new masters, she tried to push herself up, only to end up on shaking legs. He sighed quietly, scooping her up in his arms. "Em-eh-lee bad?" she asked, eyes uncertain.

"No, Emily," he murmured, stroking her arm. "You aren't bad. You're no worse than the rest of us."

* * *

"Damn it!" Mia howled, throwing her elegant crystal decanter through the scrying glass, shattering the mirror effortlessly and then the goblet against the harsh marble floor. Her familiar, a startlingly large black tomcat, shrunk back from her anger, his sleek ears lying flat against his head, then turned, pawing out a thick tome bound with dark leather of an unrecognizable coloring due to the dark stains on the cover that looked far too suspicious to not be blood and even a few that reminisced to other bodily functions. He carefully pulled the book to his mistress, pushing it underneath her hand and waiting patiently for her to notice it.

"_The Book of the Dead_," she murmured faintly, tracing the lettering on the cover with a single finger as she read it aloud. "I do not think that is such a good idea, Neo."

The cat meowed faintly, pushing it once more, sitting back on his haunches. His blood-red eyes danced in the firelight of the candles she'd lit, staring at her. _We haven't much time, Miss Ravencroft,_ a male voice chimed inside her mind. _You refuse to release me from this bondage, so I offer you this solution to your, ah, little problem._

"Neo, what you suggest is blasphemy," she growled. "The last time I was foolish enough to perform a spell from here," she trailed off, shuddering at the memory.

_That, my dear, was because you did not have me to guide you, but this time you do, and we shall both walk away from Charon and Hades completely intact._

"Hades?" she asked, surprised by his words. "Why not Anubis, Ra, and Osiris? They are much less oppositional to visitors and our black magic."

_Because it is spring, my dear, and during the spring, Persephone returns to the Underworld, making Hades far more open to the plight of mortals. You see, if you can manage to convince Persephone to permit you a favor, you will encounter no resistance from Hades, and thus Charon by extension._

"Nevertheless," she muttered, shaking her head in an attempt to shake the notion out of her head, "it is ridiculous that we must sink to _The Book of the Dead _so soon after the petty squabble of the loss of my dear servant."

_What do you have in mind then, mistress?_ the voice continued hesitantly, as though put out by her lack of initiative towards the previously offered idea.

"Well, perhaps we can take an active role in our surroundings, Neo," she said, glaring at her familiar exasperatedly. "You do know that so long as we remain in the shadows, we can do little to remedy the problem."

_Venture outside of our prison?_ the cat yelped, his head snapping over to Mia for the first time since the conversation had begun. _Miss Ravencroft, I mean this in the most complimentary of ways, but you're insane! The others will kill you!_

She looked at him disdainfully, her dull mud-brown eyes flashing. "I did not mean my words in that way, you fool of an imp!" she hissed. "I would never betray my race in such a way!"

_Then what did you mean, mistress?_ he ventured warily, well aware of her flagrant temper. He might have been exceptionally strong for his purpose, almost an overkill, but he knew she was more than capable of bringing him to heel.

"I meant that we step out in human society for once. We do not need to reveal our true nature or anything of the like, merely offer up our services as mercenaries."

He was silent for a long time, mulling over the problem. No, there was nothing in the treaties that would prevent this, nor anything that said they could. A loophole she'd cleverly decided to extort for her own nefarious purposes. _As you wish.

* * *

_Ace: Wow, Neo's kinda creepy.

Dawn: Yeah, well, Emily's just cute!

Emily: *hides behind Ed fearfully*

Mia: Wow, I don't even know why I'm here. *chucks tome at Envy*

Envy: *ducks* Wow, that's thing's huge, what is it?

Neo: None of your business.

Ed: Did that cat just talk?

Mia: He does that from time to time.

Envy: That's it, when the cats start talking, I start leaving. *runs away*

Ed: Right behind you. *runs away with Emily clinging to jacket*

Mia: *looks up from book* Reviewers get Neo or a chance to save a kitty from Al's armor.

Ace: By the way, why does my poll suddenly have an extra line?

Dawn: Heh heh heh, that's my cue to run off now. *runs after Envy*

Ace: DAWN! *runs after Dawn with flamethrower she stole from Mustang*

Roy: *comes out of random doorway* What'd I miss?

Neo: Everything.

Roy: *turns around and heads right back into bathroom* (he'd been drinking the night before)


	2. Chapter 1

Dawn: Phew, another long week at school.

Ace: I know. Can you believe the test we just took was really the most widely-failed?

Dawn: Psh, you math genius. You finished in half the time I did.

Ace: Yeah, you did take all period...

Envy: CAN WE JUST GET ON WITH IT, PLEASE?

Dawn: Meh, fine, but only for you, Envy-chan.

Ed: Okay, let's do everything up here. Your footnotes, Dawn, are attrocious.

Dawn: *sniff* It's true.

Envy: Reviewers get chocolate.

Mia: I'm so not hanging around. Come on, Neo.

Neo: Right behind you. *trots off behind Mia*

Roy: *comes out of bathroom again just in time to catch Neo talking and does immediate U-turn*

Dawn: Poor Roy, not able to understand Neo.

Ace: I have to admit, it's hilarious though.

Ed: OKAY, ARE WE DOING THIS OR WHAT?

Dawn: Aw, Eddo-kun, you don't have to be so mean about it.

Ace: Thanks to Annie May Detective, little firework (who's reviewed for me before, XD), CrystalParticles (who's also reviewed for me before, yay for repeat customers!), and Megan May (what is with all these reviewers I know today, jeez!) for reviewing, and thanks to you, I finally bullied Dawn into updating.

Dawn: Stupid Envy-chan for being out killing someone right then... *rubs arm*

Envy: *smirk* Ace5980 and ImmortalDawn18 do not own FullMetal Alchemist.

* * *

Chapter One

The strange thing was, as well as Edward recalled the little neko, his brain had trouble reconciling the brunette before him with the frightened girl he'd rescued from the cage a month ago. Her hair was sleek and shiny, like silk, her green eyes held a playful sparkle, and her ears stood high above her hair, though her tail still clung close to her body. Even though she was perched high in the tree, she sprung down effortlessly when she caught sight of the red jacket. "Ed!" she cried, happily attaching herself to his arm, her ears twitching naturally as he reached around the confines of her entire slender body to scratch behind the little scraps of fur.

"I see you've been working on yourself," he chuckled, rubbing circles, which coaxed a heady purr from her throat. Her eyes slid closed in contentment, and she leaned into his hand, but he pulled back, unwilling to force her into something she wasn't comfortable with.

True to his suspicions, her ears slunk down a little when he stopped petting. "Are you leaving already?" she asked, tightening her grip on his arm as though she expected him to abandon her that very instant. "I don't want you to go," she whispered faintly.

"Emily, why are you always so eager to attach yourself to me?" he lamented quietly, "You know I'm not really good for you, and you're hardly ideal for me, what with the general high dislike of chimeras and your stubborn body refusing to change back."

"Because you're all I have left," she confessed, her tail moving absently behind her.

He sighed, recognizing her point. "Well, Mustang gave me an assignment," he said, untangling himself from her and looking over his shoulder pointedly.

"I'm coming with you!" she yelled half in shock and half in happiness. Her ears were up, and even though Edward was about to let her come anyway, he couldn't resist her puppy-eyes.

"I don't see why not, Em, so long as you keep yourself in check."

She smiled happily, her tail swishing. "I'm ready when you are," she said, her eyes full of hope.

He blinked. "Don't you have something to pack?" he asked, unsure.

"Nope!" she chirped, picking up Ed's suitcase easily. One of the things she'd worked on in the past month was her muscle strength, and she now had more than enough strength to do anything she needed to while maintaining her slight figure. "Do you have the train tickets?"

"Yeah," he sighed, following behind her as she bounced happily along the streets. "We'll make our train with plenty of time to spare." He stifled a yawn, unwilling to admit he'd stayed up late last night researching nekos, trying to see if there was anything on record about a chimera that was impossible to reverse; there hadn't been.

On the train, she stowed the bag carefully under the seat before sitting down quietly in her seat, her eyes taking in every movement, her ears alert for any suspicious sound. Edward, on the other hand, flopped down heavily on the seat, squirming around in an attempt to try to find a spot comfortable enough to sleep. "Damn cushions, so uncomfortable for sleeping," he muttered darkly, balling up his jacket beneath his head in an attempt to try to make a pillow for himself.

"Stop it," she muttered quietly, easing his head on her lap. "You're making a fool out of yourself." He tensed on her lap, and sensing his unease, she stroked his hair absently. "Relax. It's not like I really mind serving as your pillow."

He didn't bother with a response, instead burying his face in her shirt, inhaling her scent happily as he closed his eyes and let the steady movement of the train and the time-keeping of Emily's breathing lull him to sleep. She, however, remained ever watchful, far too wary of dangers that had come when she was lax about her arrangements to let down her guard any more than she had now, for the blond alchemist who had saved her life and become her master.

* * *

Mia frowned when she caught sight of herself in the puddle, seeing the unnaturally slender girl with alabaster skin and light red-gold hair, her dark eyes sunken and haunted, on the albino horse with rolling eyes and a bony body that almost seemed to flicker into a skeleton horse if you looked at it the wrong way. Mia understood she was small and underfed, but it was a choice, not a reaction. She was anorexic, she knew it, and unafraid of it. _Neo,_ she called absently, waiting patiently for the reply of the "little" creature.

_Yes, mistress?_ the cat-boy asked quietly, appearing. He didn't look like the large black cat he normally was; instead, he had taken the form of a little waif boy with wild black hair and ragged clothes, a black pouch made of the finest leather at his waist.

_I need my wolfsbane. Something's not right here._

_Of course. Shall I retrieve _The Book of the Dead_ as well?_

Mia paused to momentarily consider the question. _No, _The Codex_ will work just as well._

The boy shook his head as he rummaged around in his pouch, pulling out a small Bible-sized book and a small sheaf of oddly-shaped purple flowers without trouble despite the mismatch of proportions. _My lady, working from the enchantress's equivalent of Cliff's Notes,_ he lamented, shaking his head in mock horror, _what has the world come to?_

Mia snorted at that, taking the objects from the boy hastily. _There is no point in using a bomb when a mere bullet would do, Neo. Just because I have showed remarkable ability from a young age does not mean I will use _The Book of the Dead_ for every single whim that strikes my fancy. I am above that, as you should be as well_.

Neo frowned. _I am a _daemon_, mistress, and a powerful one at that. Being a familiar does not suit my tastes, and as such, being closer to _The Book of the Dead_, albeit however briefly, makes me feel a little more at home confined to such a weak mortal shell._

_Nevertheless_, Mia childed, flipping through the book carefully, intent on finding the spell she wanted, _I am your master and you will do as I say, as you very well know. My command, my rules._

Neo frowned, recognizing the time to back off. _Yes, my lady_.

The girl's finger stopped on a page, poised perfectly to read the slender lines of text far faded from the passing of years. Carefully, she spoke the chant, her words gleaming with the power she grasped so tenaciously in the slender thread of her voice, "**Fero tui, bene tibi porto/ Custos tuus sum et incantatores herbae/ Vi invocato a Domino defunctorum/ Praecipio tibi ostendere immortalis ****quaevis caput.***"

There was nothing. No spark, no flash of light, nothing to accompany her intimidating display of power. Neo knew better than to laugh at his mistress's results though; the fact the spell had not worked meant there was some kind of interference, not that she had miscast. _Perhaps you should try again, my lady_, he offered submissively, unsure as to what to say to her.

"No, Neo," she murmured, for once choosing to forgo the mental bond she usually took advantage of, "The spell worked perfectly. I merely need to explore my options is all." The girl flipped through _The Codex_ once more, her finger eventually tapping another page, a different one stained a sickly parchment yellow. "This will do, I do so believe," she muttered, nodding to herself.

_Which is?_ Neo asked patiently, hoping it would be La Gamme (1).

In response, she merely chanted, "**Fusce ac umida, umida et tenebrosus/ Quaero abs te tui mittere Marcus/ Ius vindicare qui confundit venatoria venatu/ Specie sua urunt ostentare verum genus.****"

Neo really hated this particular spell, for one reason and one reason only. Against his will, his mouth opened, speaking the great final word of this prophecy. "ανθρωπάριο.***"

* * *

*-I carry thee always, I carry thee well/ I am thy keeper of herb and spell/ By the power I invoke

from the Lord of the Dead/ I command thee to show any and all immortal head. (Latin)

**- Dark and dank, dank and dark/ I ask of you to cast your mark/ Claim right to those who confound

Hunter's chase/ Burn away their guise to show their true race. (Latin)

***- Homunculus (Greek)

(1)- La Gamme is the only spell named so far, the spell that kills both its caster and target(s). Taken from _The Vampire Game_.


	3. Chapter 2

Dawn: Updating now-

Ace: -before things go wrong-

Both: -or we get more homework.

Envy: Please review to make them happier. They filled up the bottom with footnotes again and have gotten way too much work 'cuz they procrastinate on everything except this.

Ed: Thank you to Annie May Detective and little firework for reviewing. It really does make both Ace and Dawn feel better when they find reviews.

Envy: Ace5980 and ImmortalDawn18 don't won FullMetal Alchemist.

Dawn: Thanks, Envy-chan, Eddo-kun. I'm gonna have so much fun laughing at you and Lust tomorrow.

Ace: Why?

Dawn: Your profile pic on XXXX is Envy's Hallwoeen costume. She's gonna take your head off.

Ace: Meh, I still need to find the other one.

Dawn: Which is?

Ace: *whisper whisper*

Dawn: HELL YEAH! DRAW THAT PUPPY ACE! DO IT, DO IT!

Ace: I'm only looking if they ask for it...

* * *

Chapter Two

Emily sighed once Edward was firmly asleep, easing his head off her lap. It wasn't that she didn't want to be his pillow, far from it, but because of her condition, she had something more important to do than cater to her master. Her last master had needed her blood, and she'd grown well-used to being taken from, so now, where she wasn't needed so bodily, it killed her from the inside-out to be so without her release, so full. She hadn't helped herself for so long, and the pain was just so intense, no matter how much she wanted to stay and serve the blond alchemist, she had to find her out, and she had to find it now.

The neko didn't bother with a note, knowing she'd be able to return far before her master woke up, instead easing out of the compartment and wandering around the train until she found the livestock, trusting in the sheep not to expose her secret. She yanked off her leather glove with her teeth and unsheathed a single claw patiently, pulling back her sleeve from her wrist to unveil the blue spiderwebs to the world. Her tail twitched in anticipation, so without further delay, she slit across the vein, eagerly watching the welling of blood. She needed the liquid to flow, now, before she went insane.

Before her eyes and long preceding her finish, the cut healed over with a small patch of shadows, her natural defenses kicking in to "save" the neko. Understanding how far she'd need to go to get the blood out of her system, she slashed wildly at her arm, long lines tearing into muscle along the line of the arm, short deep cuts to the bone of her wrist, twirling elegant tracings on her palm, anything to try to relieve the anxiety. Panting, she let the blood drip down her pale skin, her ears twitching in satisfaction as she felt the twitchiness leave her body. Before the shadows could return to stitch up her wounds, the girl lowered her head, lapping at the wounds with an inhumanly rough tongue.

Every now and again, she would need to pause to spit a mouthful of blood out on the floor, her face twisted in distaste, but if she didn't clean up the crimson insubordination on her pale skin, Ed would no doubt have her metaphorical head. Only once her skin was once more flawless paper and her claw was spotless, no sign to show of her activities, did she pull her glove back over her hand and creep back to the compartment, easing herself back under the blond. "Emily?" he murmured sleepily, not fully awake but not fully asleep either, "Wha happened? Are we there?"

"No," she hushed, her tail twitching a little guiltily for lying to the one person she'd ever liked the most in the entire world. "I just had some business to attend to. I'm sorry for disturbing you. I thought you were too far gone to notice my absence. Go back to sleep, I'll be fine."

"'kay," he muttered sleepily, burying his face back into her stomach and proceeding to do just that, almost like Emily herself would've.

The girl smiled forlornly, running a slender hand over his hair once she was certain he wasn't conscious enough to notice, unable to resist carding the fingers through the silky soft locks addictingly. Quietly, unwilling to risk waking him once more, she breathed, "**Ombre, io so di avere sbagliato/ Lasciando prima bong finale della campana/ Ma Vi chiedo ora di ascoltare la mia supplica/ Cloud occhi d'oro in modo che non può vedere.**(1)"

There was nothing to show from her whisperings, but somehow, the neko had faith the words would have an effect on the blond. He was only mortal, while she was... something else. There was no way her words wouldn't conceal her activities from him, but just to be safe, she would repeat the ancient words once more to make sure it took affect before she let herself fall asleep against the seat.

* * *

To say Mia did not expect, nay anticipate, the teenage boy with black hair just long enough to fall into his flaming green eyes and a red single Ouroboros tattoo under his chin to spring at her, attempting to knock her from her horse, was an understatement. In truth, she knew it would happen, and as such, she also knew Neo would spring into action, shifting to his panther form fluidly to trap the boy against the wall. "_**Dinlenmek, Neo. Onu gibi bir yaratık korkacak bir şey yok. O tıpkı bizim kadar gizlilik üzerinde büyür**_," (2) she murmured, eying him coldly from her perch.

"_**Aber, Geliebte**_," (3) the cat whined, pleading with her, his claws at the struggling boy's throat.

"Dammit, Arrogance, I leave you alone for five minutes and you wind up in trouble!" another boy, one with long black hair and sharp purple eyes, growled, stalking around the corner. He then bowed elegantly to Mia, his voice softening. "I'm sorry to bother you, milady, but I must ask you to have your panther release my apprentice so that I might take him home and properly chasten him for straying from my side." His mouth quirked up in a smile as he added, "I'm sure you yourself had no doubt had similar problems before, no?"

An icy chill of fear swept down her spine as Neo hissed blankly in her head, _He knows!_

She glared at him, maintaining her mask of indifference, as she whispered, "**Sanguine multo veteres perit cadit/ Quaero admittere interesse mystico velamine/ Date veritatem detegere quod video/ Verum nomen bestiae coram.**" (4)

Neo shuddered once more, a response forced from his lips. "Ζηλεύω," (5) he gasped, his voice going deeper than it normally would with the magic flowing through his body.

"What the hell are you?" Arrogance gasped, his chin jerking up in defiance as he hid his unnervedness.

"That is for us to know," Mia growled, her patience wearing thin of the flippant homunculus, "and for you to never find out."

Envy bit his lip, thinking quickly. "By chance," he ventured hesitantly, "have you happened to have met my mother, Dante?"

Mia's eyes lit up considerably, while Neo let out an exasperated growl. "Why yes," she chuckled, "I remember little Dante. She was quite advanced for her time, I will tell you, what with her alchemy, but she was just too blind to see the potential I had until she was already set upon her path, and by then, I abhorred her for her choice. It was just so... barbaric. There are so many other ways for immortality, and far less consequential and drawn-out, let me assure you."

The sin grinned lazily, seemingly recognizing her. "I'm guessing you must be the lovely Mia Ravencroft her journals speak so enviously of. I must say though, the text did not quite do you justice."

"I did not know she wrote of me. How is she these days? Just as rotted as I imagine her, and no less controlling?"

He chuckled. "She didn't call you crass for nothing."

Her nose wrinkled. "Crass?"

"You questioned her godliness," he clarified, "by that, you were committing sacrilege in her eyes. Nothing you did could've convinced her otherwise."

"Humph, like I said, barbaric," Mia tisked, waving her hand. Beneath her, the horseflesh shuddered once before dumping her onto her feet as she clutched her forehead.

_Mistress!_ Neo cried, rushing to her side and forgetting about the homunculus he was pinning to the wall.

_I'll be fine,_ she reassured, clutching his fur for support. _I should not have tried casting without a spellbook to ground me is all_. And then she fainted.

* * *

(1)- Shadows, I know I have done wrong/ Leaving before the bell's final bong/ But I ask you now to hear my plea/ Cloud golden eyes so they cannot see. (Italian)

(2)- Relax, Neo. We have nothing to fear from a creature such as him. He thrives on secrecy just as much as we do. (Turkish)

(3)- But, mistress- (German)

(4)- By blood long lost and by ancient fell/ I ask to permit a part in the mystic veil/ Let me unveil the truth of what I see/ The true name of the beast before me.

(5)- Envy (Greek)


End file.
